After Virat Kohli publicly contradicted the BCCI president Sourav Ganguly’s statement over the captaincy matter, it sparked a huge controversy in Indian cricket. 

It was an unprecedented event. It’s hard to recall the last time when an Indian skipper refuted the claims of the man in charge of the BCCI, the world’s most powerful cricket board. Since then people have started speculating on the differences between the two legends of the game.

In the last few months, Kohli has seen his status within the Indian team decline to a great extent. His form has dipped considerably in the last two years and he is no longer the country's most-prolific run-scorer. 

The pressure on him was mounting and by stepping down from the T20I captaincy ahead of the T20 World Cup, he thought he would ease some of his workload and focus on his batting. He even hoped that by doing so he would get to lead the side in the remaining two formats.

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With the 2023 ODI World Cup set to be played in India, Kohli was hoping to lead the side in the muti-nation event but by sacking him from the ODI role, the BCCI office bearers, in a way, made their intentions clear that they are the ones who get to decide what’s right for Indian cricket not him.

By handing over the white-ball captaincy to Rohit Sharma, the BCCI top brass has shifted the power dynamics inside the dressing room and the Delhi-born cricketer doesn’t enjoy the same authority anymore.

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According to a report published in Times Now News, the sources have confirmed that the BCCI definitely has some issues with the Test leader. The board is not happy with Kohli because of the “complete breakdown of communication” between him and the selectors or even his team members.

“It isn't known whether Kohli has a problem with the BCCI or not but the board does have some issues with the Test captain. Sources have told Times Now that there's a complete breakdown of communication and that Kohli has no communication with the team. He is incommunicado after matches and doesn't have any co-ordination/interaction with the selection committee,” read the report.

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The same report also stated that the discussions about split captaincy had been going on for the last four months, even before Kohli had stepped down from the T20I role.

“The BCCI had been planning to take a call on the captaincy and the prospect of having two captains was being discussed for 4 months. The BCCI wanted one captain for ODIs and T20Is,” it stated.

Amidst this whole controversy, some even believe that things are going to be even more difficult for Kohli going forward. The upcoming Test series against South Africa is going to be crucial in that regard, with Kohli’s future hanging by a thread.

Veteran sports journalist Vijay Lokapally feels that the only way Kohli can survive is by scoring huge amounts of runs in the upcoming series, if not his future looks bleak. He even said that “knives are out” against the red-ball captain as people are waiting for the ideal opportunity to “put him in his place”.

@imVkohli must now score big to survive. No choice. Knives are out. There is someone who wants to put Virat in his place. Nothing new really in Indian cricket. Mr Sunil Gavaskar, @BishanBedi @therealkapildev @sachin_rt and @anilkumble1074 have first hand experience !

“@imVkohli must now score big to survive. No choice. Knives are out. There is someone who wants to put Virat in his place. Nothing new really in Indian cricket. Mr Sunil Gavaskar, 

@BishanBedi @therealkapildev @sachin_rt and @anilkumble1074 have first hand experience!” Lokapally tweeted. 

If this report is true, it raises a huge question as to when the board had already begun discussing split-captaincy why Ganguly claimed that he had “personally requested” Kohli not to give up the T20I role. 

If they wanted to sack him, rather than giving sugar-coated statements in the media they should have straightaway informed him about their intentions.

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